Triwizard Tournament Again
by Aikiko-Ashra
Summary: A new set of students are now in Hogwarts, 200 years after Harry Potter. Triwizard Tournament has begin again. The rules have changed,and there seems to be a dark secret hidden within the school of Hogwarts once more.
1. Prologue

_**I do not own Harry Potter or any of its character or settings. I am going to be using Howarts, and the idea of the Triwizard Tournament and everything, but the characters are of my own creation.**_

_**Prologue**_

"We're back," she whispered, tears streaming down her eyes, "back to the beginning, where everything started," she said softly, in a crackling voice. A small grin erupt from her face beneath the valley of tears as she looked up at the man standing beside her.

He smiled at her, gripping her hand tighter as several large tears dripped down his own face, and onto his golden, tanned hands.

The stood in the middle of a thin strip of walkway, between a garden of beautifully, bright, blooming flowers that blossomed on either sides of them.

In front of the couple was a large, marble rock, with an engraving on it that brought more tears to the woman and man's eyes.

"It's already been seven years, but it still feels like yesterday," the man said, the memory appearing fresh in his mind.

The girl beside him buried her face into his arm, the tears falling on top of his shirt.

The man pulled her into a tight, warm embrace as she continued to release hot, moist tears onto his chest.

Finally, after a long while, she finally gained control and spun around to face the marble stone again. The tears ceased coming. It's exactly been seven years ago," she said, wrapping herself in the man's arm. "This is where we all first met. Where fate began to take control," she reminded, her voice slow and sad. The man remained silent. "Do you remember? It was the year when the Triwizard Tournament came to Hogwarts, and people had to compete against one another," she smiled, as the memories came rushing through her head. "Who would've thought, you know, that we'd be linked together, in the most extraordinary way. That we'd get to know each other soon, sooner than we'd all expect." Her voice began to get thick and slick as she was soon enraptured in her own authorish tone that began to unweave the tale of one year ago.

The tears stopped dripping down the man's face too, for he too was slowly being sucked into the memory that burned fresh in his mind.

_**Seven years ago**_

_**Field of Flowers**_

The light from the gleaming gold sun shone over the field of pastel colored flowers like a picture right out of one of Tomas Kinkade's paintings. Except, instead of a glorious Victorian house, there was a pathway. A thin, narrow, cement pathway that had been laid down right in the middle of the flowers, separating the field into two separate places. And, far far down, at the end of the pathway, where the flowers ended, there was a run down, white church, with one of those big, giant, golden bells on top, except this one had a big chunk missing from it, like somebody had decided to take out a huge nail and hammer to crack out a fat piece of it.

The setting was mesmerizing. To everybody.

This place looked as if it were isolated from the rest of the normal, well-functioning world. It looked like it had frozen. Like somebody had cast a spell to stop time in it, because, even in the cold, blistering winter, the flowers looked bored, untouched by the frost, its petals still blooming beautifully.

And anybody who happened to pass by this road, no matter how rushed they felt, would feel compelled to stop and stare at the flowers and its broken church for a moment or two before leaving. And if anybody were to be gazing upon the flowers now, it would seem undisturbed to them, completely peaceful. But if they were to study the image a second longer, they would have noticed that the peace of the scenery had been disturbed upon by seven intruding teenagers. None of the four parties realizing that the other three were among them, for they were too widely spread about the immense garden to notice one another.

At the beginning of the pathway, close to the main road, there were two girls, both of whom had long, silky blond hair spilling down their backs, a fashionable hat perching on top of their heads, and genuine Louie Vuitton sunglasses smacked over their eyes. And, though the two girls hated to admit it, some of the muggle inventions were rather quite useful. Especially when wizarding laws strictly stated that students not of age, were not allowed to perform magic outside of school. What a bore, they had thought, what was the point of being witches and wizards if they couldn't perform magic till their seventeenth Birthday? They sighed, picking at the pastel purple and yellow flowers that surrounded them.

"You're turning seventeen soon Caterina. Only two more months right? Little 'fore school should start," the younger of the two girls stated bitterly. She chose to stare at the heads of the flowers she was ripping out rather than at her older cousin who sat beside her.

"Oh please Bella! Don't start that again! You'll be turning seventeen in another two years. It'll be your turn soon enough!" said Caterina, an evitable annoyance rang through her tone, confirming the face that they had been through this conversation numerous times before.

Bella pouted, her cheeks sticking out. She ripped out some more beautiful flowers, "Yes, but not 'fore the Triwizard Tournament. _You'll_ be able to enter," she said, unable to stop herself from adding the last part.

Caterina groaned, repositioning her hat into a more comfortable position, "You act like I'll be picked for sure. And who knows? I might not even enter."

Bella snorted and muttered, "I doubt that."

They both knew it was true. The silent grumble continued between the two cousins.

Somewhere, far away, at the forest that bordered the left side of the garden, a boy jumped out, looking almost as if the trees had spitted him out. He had jet black hair and tan skin, and a white T-shirt on. A few seconds later, another boy popped out, right behind him, as if by magic. The second boy had short brown hair and swirls of gray eyes

He turned and looked sternly at the first boy. "Jesse, just because we can both Disapparate now, doesn't mean we have to do it every two feet," remarked the boy. He brushed off the leaves that had fallen on top of his red T-shirt and jeans.

"What? Perry! You can't tell me it's not exhilarating! It's exciting! It's fascinating! It's... It's..." the excited boy named Jesse paused for a second, thinking of another word that could describe the sensation of disappearing and reappearing in a completely different spot. Before he could come up with another word, however, the boy named Perry had continued it for him, "it's nauseating after awhile."

"Yes! Yes!" ranted Jesse. "Ex— Wait a minute. No it's not." He stopped to think. "And plus, we won't be at liberty to do something like this for another nine months, once school starts," he reminded.

"Yes," Perry agreed. "But after that, I'll be stuck having to watch you do it for the rest of my life. And to me, personally, it's uncomfortable Disapparating. So please, give me a rest already."

Jesse's shoulders dropped dramatically, unable to think of anything else to say. Perry was too serious sometimes. He spoiled the fun.

"Anyways, onto another subject matter," began Jesse, striding carelessly across the field of flowers, his hands wrapped comfortably behind his head, "You reckon the students at Hogwarts and Beaubaxton are going to be hard to beat?" Once again Jesse had switched the topic to the Triwizard Tournament. He seemed obsessed with the thing nowadays. The fact that after four hundred years the Triwizard Tournament was finally coming back probably also contributed to the obsession.

"Why?" asked Perry, striding close behind him.

"Well, it's only natural that I'm curious about my potential opponents before I actually go up against them."

"You make it sound like you'll be selected for sure."

"That's because I am." Jesse stopped and turned around to look at Perry. "And so are you. So don't forget to enter."

Perry snorted, staring at his childhood friend. He never understood where Jesse got all the confidence from, especially about such an impossible notion.

"Jesse, case you forgot, only one student from each school is chosen. So if you're so sure you'll get picked, I won't," he reminded.

Jesse stared at him blankly. "We'll get picked. I'm sure of it man." And with that he turned back around, striding carelessly among the field of flowers once again.

After a long while, Perry finally spoke, "Where are we going again?" he asked, wondering why he was letting Jesse take the lead.

"Don't know man. My guts just telling me to go this way, and I trust my gut," informed Jesse.

Perry groaned. Not Jesse gut _again_! They'll end up lost or in trouble before long. He just _knew_ it.

The sounds of birds chirping came from somewhere not too far from them. It came from the church, where the many birds had decided to build their nests. And at the front door of the church was a boy, with midnight brown hair and a black T-shirt on. He rested his hand on the door, his fingers scraping the peeling white pain. His uncle had told him to visit the place, told him that he would like it because it was so quiet and peaceful, especially compared to the everyday ruckus at his uncle's home.

"_Christian boy, I know you must be getting restless here. You're not used to the rowdiness and liveliness in this house yet_, _and the fact that you're going to be going back to school so soon won't help matters either, but here. About twenty miles from here, next to the main road, remember that field of flowers that we had driven across the other day, when I picked you up? The one where we stopped by for a couple of seconds to look at? Well, why don't you Disapparate there? Find some peace and quiet for a couple of hours there. Bring a book or something," his uncle had insisted, patting him on the back before running back inside the house to the sounds of his screaming children. _

Christian fingered the rusty doorknob, debating whether or not he should go inside. Finally, after a long while, he opened the door. He coughed, turning his face away as mounds of dust fought to get outside, to the open air. When it finally seemed safe enough to turn back around, he looked at the room. It was old, dusty, and moldy. The floor creaked with every step he took. Just like the porch outside. On the other side of the room was a glass wall, with light shining through it, with flowers and trees growing beside it. In front of him, next to the window, was a piano.

An old, dusty, white piano. Christian walked to the piano, brushing off some of the dust with his hand. He lifted the top of the piano off and pulled out the longest stick from inside to hold the top up. There was a dead, gray mice inside the piano. It smelled bad, like it had been sitting there for weeks, trying to find its way out. Christian brushed off some of the dust on the piano seat before sitting down. The floor creaked so loudly when he sat that he wondered if the floor would collapse beneath him, but it stayed stable. He opened the lid of the piano, revealing a row of ivory keys. And some black ones. He fingered a note. It was horribly out of tune. He pulled out a wand from his back pocket and muttered something before stuffing the wand back into his pants. He fingered the same note again. This time, a crisp clean note came out. With both hands on the keys, he began to play a tune. A beautiful mesmerizing tune, fit for the world he was currently in.

Far away, sitting next to a lake in the right forest, were two girls with charcoal colored hair and blue eyes.

"Cassy, what if I get housed in Slytherin?" asked the younger sister once more, for the upteenth time that day. She picked up another yellow and blue flower that grew even in the forest, but did not continue threading it onto her crown.

The older sister, named Cassidy, was lying casually on top of the bed of flowers and replied, "Now listen Leigha. Not all Slytherin people are bad. I mean, look at Christian, he's an absolutely great person and he's in Slytherin. So stop fretting," assured Cassy. She breathed in the scent of flowers and smiled. This was the first time she could sit among flowers and not have her irritating allergies appear. She wondered why.

"But Christian is a complete exception! Nobody's going to be able to beat him!" cried Leigha. "And the other Slytherins though! Remember when you used to write letters to me every week to tell me how horrible those kids were? I had half a mind and almost and went to tell Ma!" her sister exclaimed.

Cassy stiffened. "But you _didn't_, right?"

"No," her sister finally answered after a long while, continuing to weave her crown of flowers for her sister, since she already had a pink and yellow one on her own head.

Cassy let out a relieved sigh at Leigha's response.

They both knew that if their mom had found out, than neither of them would be going to Hogwarts. Their mom had a tendency to make a big deal out of small things, and it quite annoyed the both of them a lot at times. Their mother was a muggle, and so was their dad, but he had died a long time ago from a muggle disease. When Cassy had first gotten her letter four years to attend Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Her and her sister had been so excited, but her mother had thought that it was a hoax, and had promptly sent the letter to the shredder. Funny enough, the paper had refused to be torn to pieces. And by the next week, a thin black haired man with a big, fat mustache and beard had came to prove that Hogwarts did, indeed, exist. Her mother hadn't quite like the man, nor trusted him, but after constant begging, and coaxing letters from the school about safety, their mom finally let Cassy Go. (Though she had threatened to make her come back home every year). This year, her sister Leigha had also gotten a letter. And since, had been fretting non-stop.

"Listen Leigha," Cassy finally said after a long while. "I just had the wrong impression of them at first, but that I know them, (or Christian at least), they're great!" Well some of them at least, she mentally added to herself.

"Yeah right. I bet—"

Cassy cut her off, suddenly jumping up into a sitting position. "Do you hear that?" she asked.

"Hear what?" she responded sourly, angry that her sister had interrupted her.

"The music!" her sister whispered. Leigha listened closely and finally heard it too.

"It... sounds like a piano."

"Come on! Let's find it," her sister said excitedly, she jumped up from the bed of flowers and brushed off the stray petals that stuck to her blue T-shirt and jeans. Her sister got up too, her flower printed skirt blending with the scenery. She dropped the crown on top of Cassy's head. It fitted perfectly on her head, stopping about halfway down her forehead.

"Don't _we_ look pretty," laughed Cassy. "Now come on!" she rushed, running towards the source of the sound.

"Do you hear something?" asked Jesse as they neared the run down white church.

"Yeah," whispered Perry, listening intently to the the enchanting melody.

"Let's go," said Jesse, and the two of them sprinted towards the sound.

"I hear something pretty," comment Bella, her blue eyes traveling towards the run down church.

"Me too."

The two cousins got up and began traveling towards the source of the beautiful melody.

The six of them neared towards the church, towards the sound that was bedazzling them. They were listening so intently that they didn't even notice the sound of the creaking steps coming onto the porch before and after them.

They peered inside and found a boy with midnight brown hair playing an old, white piano. His eyes were closed as he pressed his fingers down onto the keys.

"Hey!" Leigha whispered loudly, "Isn't that Christian?" she asked, recognizing the figure.

Five pair of eyes turned to look at her, four unaware that she had been there.

"Yeah, I think," started Cassy, "but I can't really—"

Suddenly a cell phone rang. The sound of the piano ended abruptly.

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Cassy. "It's mom! We're so late! She's never going to let us out again! Come on Leigha! We've got to go!" And the two sisters ran off, unaware that the people who had shared the porch with them were still staring at their backs.

Christian jumped up from his seat and to the door. He could have sworn he just saw Cassy. His eyes roamed the field, and sure enough, Cassy was there, with her sister sprinting with all her might. He was about to call her name, but he knew she was too far to hear him. What a coincidence? he thought. Suddenly, he became aware of the fact that four other people were present, and was staring at him. His eyes rested on a tall boy, almost his height with jet black hair and a wide grin.

"Hey, I'm Jesse. Just happened to be here," he greeted, smiling.

"I'm Perry."

"I'm Caterina."

"I'm Bella."

His eyes roamed from one person the next.

"My name's Christian. Christian Locket."


	2. The Sorting Hat's Song

_**I do not own Harry Potter or any of its character or settings. I am going to be using Howarts, and the idea of the Triwizard Tournament and everything, but the characters are of my own creation.**_

**The Sorting Hat's Song**

The sounds of the Hogwarts Express whistled impatiently, its wheels ready to race down the tracks. "— yes Ma! Of course I'm going to be looking over Leigha. Ma, we really have to go, the train's about to leave," reminded Cassy impatiently. The train whistled again.

"Oh, I don't understand my daughters at all. Why don't you girls want to be like normal kids? Most kids don't leave their parents till they're eighteen. And look at Leigha. She won't be eleven for another month, and I won't even be able to spend it with her," their mother fretted, messing with Leigha's hair.

"Aw Ma. I'll miss you too, but we'll be fine. Look at sis! She's wonderful! Just like what I'll be one day," she assured, kissing her mother on both cheeks.

The train whistled again. "Ma! We really— "

"Okay, dear me. Guess you girls should get going then." She hugged Cassy and kissed her on both cheeks. "Bye!" she shouted, to be heard over the train's howl.

"Bye!" the two girls shouted back, jumping onto the train just in time.

"Tell Christian I said —" their mother started, but her voice was drowned beneath the whistle of the train and its wheels.

Cassy sighed and shoved her sister a little on the back.

"Alright now. Better find yourself a compartment and make friends."

Leigha turned around to look at her. "You're not going to be sitting with me?" she asked, her blue eyes scared and worried.

Cassy shook her head. "I'm a Prefect this year, so I can't. Sorry sis'."

"Than what 'bout Christian? Can't I sit with him?"

"He's Slytherin Head Boy. Now get going. I've got to get to the Prefects Carriage. And with that, Leigha ran off, looking hopefully into compartments for a friendly face.

Meanwhile, Cassy dragged her trunk towards the end of the train. When she got there, the door had slid open. Christian stood at the doorway, looking like he was about to step out.

"I wondered where you were. For a second I thought you had gotten lost." He smiled at her. "Here, let me get that." He grabbed her trunk and pulled it inside.

She thanked him and silently wondered whether or not he _had_ been the boy she saw in the urn down church the other day. She looked inside and saw that all the Prefects and Heads of Houses were already there. There was an empty spot next to Christian, which he must have saved for her. She sat down next to him. The others were already engaged in a heated discussion with one another by the time she sat down. She recognized that Ryan Warren, the Ravenclaw Head Boy, was the one leading the talk.

"Kay, only between us right?" he asked, his long arms moving as he spoke. The others nodded. "Kay than. You heard how the Triwizard Tournament's coming to Hogwarts this year, right?"

"The... what?" asked Cassy. She had never heard about it before.

"The Triwizard Tournament!" repeated Ryan emphatically. Cassy continued to stare at him cluelessly, making his sigh. "Don't you read the Daily Prophet?" he asked, looking at her as if she were stupid.

"No," she answered curtly, not liking his attitude. She lived in a muggle home. Her mother didn't like the Daily Prophet, case anyone visited the house, saw it, and thought she was a lunatic. Because of that, Cassy lost all news of the Wizarding World during her summers.

"Well, _anyways_," continued Ryan, "the Triwizard Tournament' s a competition between three of Britain's largest schools of Wizardry: Hogwarts, Durmstrang, and Beaubaxton. There's a student that represents each school. They compete against each other to bring their school glory and the prize of a thousand galleons. They used to take turns hosting it every five years, but the death toll got so high that—"

"_Death toll?_" she repeated.

He raised his eyebrows, wondering whether or not she really _was_ stupid.

"Well yeah, the challenges were so hard. Of course some people were bound to die. But cause so _many_ died they stopped having the tournament. They finally brought it back 'bout four hundred years ago, but then another student ended up croaking. Think his name was Cedric or something. And Harry Potter seemed to be alive during that time too or whatever. Course, the only reason the poor fellow died than was cause of that Voldy, something like that guy. Anywhos, the Ministry's put extra cautions on it this year, so nobody should be dying this time or anything. Anyways, the big thing is, from what Tomas' told me, cause you know how his dad works for Ministry and everything, instead of seventeen, they're letting students of every age compete!"

"Wait!"

"What!"

"No way!"

"Does that mean I can compete?!"

"You're telling me we're going to be having _more_ competition?"

Cassy covered her ears, everybody was starting to talk too loudly. Why was everybody so excited about this Tournament thingy? And why did they all want to compete when so many people have died? She turned to look at Christian, to see what he thought about all of this, but he had already stood up.

"Why don't we make our rounds now?" he asked, speaking louder than normal so that he could be heard above the ruckus.

She nodded and followed behind him out the door. They opened the doors to each of the compartments to check on the students. This was Cassy's first year as Prefect so she followed Christian, mirroring his every movement. He laughed when he finally noticed what she was doing. He gave her a gentle pat on the head, but she brushed his hand away politely.

"I don't particularly like it when you treat me like a child," she informed, patting her own black hair back down. She had decided to wear it in a ponytail today so that it wouldn't get in the way.

He smiled at her, his emerald eyes as gentle as ever. "Whoever said I was trying to treat you like a child? Treating you like that would be the farthest thing I ever intended to do." She stared at him, a bit surprised. Cassy couldn't help it, but her heart fluttered anytime he looked and smiled at her like that. Like she was the only person there.

She tore her cerulean eyes away form his emerald ones, unable to maintain the awkward eye contact.

"M-my mother told me to tell you hello. Or... at least I think that's what she said," she stuttered, changing the subject.

"That's sweet of her. When you write an owl to her, be sure to tell her that I asked about her health."

"Sure thing."

"Your sister's here this year?" he asked, peeking into another compartment.

"Yeah," she answered. "Speak of the devil," she laughed, cause the very compartment she was opening held her sister and two other first year students.

"Christian!" squealed Leigha. She jumped out of her seat and tackled Christian down with a hug.

"Gee. Thanks for the lovin' sis'," joked Cassy, looking down at Leigha and Christian, who had fallen down from the shock. Several compartment doors opened to see what had caused the commotion, only to find Leigha on top of Christian in the hallway.

Cassy gulped, seeing angry stares from some of the girls. Because... Christian... to put it simply... well he was... popular. Especially with the girls.

One girl was angry enough to shout, "Get off of him you filthy mudblood!" Cassy recognized the girl, her name was Delia Richards, a dark-skinned sixth year Slytherin.

Cassy felt her blood boil. Nobody who called her sister a mudblood was going to get away with it. She pulled out her wand and marched up to the compartment with the girl in it and slammed the door all the way open. She could hear her sister behind her, asking Christian what a mudblood was. Cassy looked inside the compartment. There were three other Slytherin girls inside, besides Delia.

She looked straight at Delia and demanded, "Did I just hear you call my sister a mudblood?"

Delia looked a little shocked, like she couldn't believe Cassy had actually barged into her compartment. Finally, after she had seemed to recover from the shock, she replied defiantly. "Well yeah! She is, isn't she? She's a filthy mudblood! And so are you! What gives _you_ the right to hang all over him like that?" she demanded, taking a step closer to Cassy with each word.

"You— You—" Casssy started, pointing her wand angrily at Delia's face.

Delia backed away, afraid that Cassy might jinx her. Out of the corner of her eye, Cassy saw another girl pull out her want. Almost instinctively, Cassy changed the direction of her want and cried. "Stupefy!" but it was too late. The other girl had already cast her spell.

Cassy felt her body fly backwards; her back slammed again the wall of the open compartment, across from the girls. At the same time she heard a voice cry "Expelliarmus!" The people in the compartment she had fell in helped her get up and to the door.

Christian was at the doorway of the girl's compartment, a wand in each hand. Cassy stared at his back.

"There shouldn't be any violence on this train. I trust that you girls will review your actions and repent for it. I hope I will not have to cross paths with you, Ms. Foxworth," referring to the girl who had attacked Cassy," like this again," he reprimanded. He handed her wand back to her and stood there, frozen for a minute.

"Y-yes," Delia stuttered, having been the one to reply. She sounded scared. As soon as Christian turned away, Delia shut the door.

"Merlin! What'd you do? She sounded like she just saw the devil, "laughed Cassy, her hand gripping onto her side, because it hurt so bad.

Christian turned around to look at her and shook his head.

"You shouldn't have done that," he said. He took one of her arms and swung it over his shoulder so that he could help her walk. Around them they could hear the sounds of shutting doors. The show was over.

"Well what'd you want me to do? I wasn't going to stand there and let her insult my sister," she defended.

"You're too hot-blooded sometimes," he noted, helping her down the hall.

"Teasing my sister's reserved only for us," she laughed. "Ow! Can't you be more gentle?" she asked. His hand on her hip had pressed too hard.

"Sorry, I'm not too good with healing spells. I think we're going to have to ask Sara for that one. But let's go see your sister first. She looked worried sick," he informed. She nodded as he opened the door to Leigha's compartment and led her in.

Leigha was sitting across from a small, mousy looking boy with blonde, blonde hair, who looked like he was trying to comfort her, along with another girl with bushy brown locks and big brown eyes, who sat next to her.

Leigha heard the sound of the door sliding open and turned to look at Cassy and Christian, her face pasty and pale looking. She jumped up from her seat and tackled Cassy this time.

Cassy groaned. "Get off me Leigha. My hip hurts!"

Leigha quickly leapt off, afraid that sh ehad hurt her.

"Are you okay?" she asked, issuing commands to the boy with her hands so that he would scoot over for Cassy.

"No, I'm fine," Cassy told the boy before he moved.

"Leigha, listen, be careful kay? And tell me if anybody messed with you. If they do, I'm ready to beat them down to a bloody pulp. And if I can't... well this big guy can do it for you. He's got to be good for something," she joked, patting his muscular chest.

Leigha laughed, feeling a bit relieved.

"Well I'm going to go, kay little sis'?" said Cassy, more than ready to find Sara so that she could heal her hip. It was throbbing like crazy.

"Bye," said Leigha, watching as Christian helped Cassy back to the Prefects Carnage.

"In the name of Merlin's beard did you two cause a commotion! I thought you guys were just going to check on the other compartments. Never said anything 'bout fighting!" exclaimed Ryan, who had opened the door for them before they even got close to the carriage.

"Sara," called Christian, "can you fix Cassy's hip? From what if feels like, it seems like she fractured her hip bone," he informed, handing Cassy off to Sara.

Sara was sixth year Hufflepuff prefect with a mess of brown hair, which she had pulled back and braided, and a kind face with freckles dotted across her nose. She examined Cassy's hip, and, with a thoughtful look said, "Definitely fractured." She pulled her wand out of her black dress robes, which she had already put on, and pressed the wand onto Cassy's hip, muttering a spell. Instantly, Cassy felt a warm, golden sensation envelop her, but when she opened her eyes, the feeling had already left her. A little sad, she grabbed her side. Sure enough, the pain was gone.

"Thanks," she muttered before getting up to sit back down next to Christian.

"You're welcome," she heard Sara say, smiling pleasantly.

"God! Heard you guys from a mile away! 'Course, by the time we opened the door, all we saw was Christian helping you into another compartment. So what happened?" asked Ryan, words falling out of his mouth faster than Cassy could think.

For the next half hour or so, Cassy told them what had actually happened, and, still, after that, they continued to discuss the event. Cassy stopped participating after a while and turned to look at Christian, who had already fallen asleep long ago. She sighed, sometimes she wondered what he dreamt about.

From what she heard Ryan say, Delia was Simon Richard's daughter, a head honcho guy in the ministry, second to the minister himself or something like that, so she'd better watch her back, cause she had just made herself an enemy of a big spoiled brat. She pulled her dress robes over her head, they were getting close to the school. She groaned. As if she didn't have enough to worry about already, much less self proclaimed pima donnas.

She got into a black carriage with Christian, Ryan, and Sara. The carriage soared up into the sky and headed for Hogwarts, steered and lifted by nothing that Cassy knew about.

Cassy watched, along with everybody else in the Great Hall, as the first year students walked through the great oak doors. Some of them looked shaken and scared, probably from the boat ride that htey had just take to get to the school, while others looked perfectly amazed and mesmerized. Like Leigha, who was now staring at the enchanted ceiling filled with stars.

The kids followed along behind the gamekeeper, Malcolm, a big, dark-skinned man, with a shaved head. He had rags on for clothes and muscles bulging out of his Python like arms and calves. He led them up to the three legged stool with a tattered hat on top, that looked like it had been beaten and burned. He told the students to back up a little and stay there till there names were called. The first years stood there, nervous and fidgety as they watched Malcolm take a seat at the Staff's table.

Suddenly, a long tear near the brim opened, wide like a mouth, and the hat broke into a song. Cassy distinctly heard a first year student scream.

_In times of old when I was new_

_And Hogwarts barely started_

_The founders of our noble school _

_Thought never to be parted:_

_United by a common goal, _

_They had the self same yearning,_

_To make the world's best magic school_

_And pass along their learning._

"_Together we will build and teach!"_

_The four good friends decided_

_And never did they dream that they_

_Might someday be divided,_

_For were there such friends anywhere_

_As Slytherin and Gryffindor?_

_Unless it was the second pair_

_Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?_

_So how could it have gone so wrong?_

_How could such friendships fail?_

_Why, I was there and so can tell_

_The whole sad, sorry tale._

_Said Slytherin, "We'll teach those_

_Whose ancestry is purest."_

_Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose_

_Intelligence is surest."_

_Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those_

_With brave deeds to their name."_

_Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot_

_And treat them just the same."_

_These differences caused little strife_

_When first they came to light,_

_For each of the four founders had_

_A House in which they might_

_Take only those they wanted, so,_

_For instance, Slytherin_

_Took only pure-blood wizards_

_Of great cunning, just like him,_

_And only those of sharpest mind_

_Were taught by Ravenclaw_

_While the bravest and the boldest_

_Went to daring Gryffindor._

_Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest,_

_And taught them all she knew,_

_Thus the Houses and their founders_

_Retained friendships firm and true._

_So Hogwarts worked in harmony_

_For several happy years,_

_But then discord crept among us_

_Feeding on our faults and fears._

_The Houses that, like pillars four, _

_Had once held up our school,_

_Now turned upon each other and,_

_Divided, sought to rule._

_And for a while it seemed the school_

_Must meet an early end,_

_What with dueling and with fighting_

_And the class of friend on friend_

_And at last there came a morning_

_When old Slytherin departed_

_And though the fighting then died out_

_He left us quite downhearted._

_And never since the founders four_

_Were whittled down to three_

_Have the Houses been united_

_As they once were meant to be._

_And now the Sorting Hat is here_

_And you all know the score:_

_I sort you into Houses_

_Because that is what I'm for,_

_But this year I'll go further,_

_Listen closely to my song:_

_Though condemned I am to split you_

_Still I worry that it's wrong,_

_Though I must fulfill my duty_

_And must quarter every year_

_Still wonder whether sorting_

_May not bring the end I fear._

_Oh, know the perils, read the signs,_

_The warning history shows,_

_For our Hogwarts is in danger_

_From internal, deadly foes_

_And we must unite inside her_

_Or we'll crumble from within_

_I have told you, I have warned you..._

_Let the sorting now begin._

The clapping that usually ensued the hat's song did not commence immediately. Not 'fore another a minute or two did somebody start to clap.

"Well, that was interesting wasn't it?" muttered Cassy to a fellow fifth year friend named Lisa as they clapped.

"Sure enough. The song seems different from the other years," noted Lisa, flipping her long blonde hair out.

"Hope my sister gets put in Gryffindor with us," said Cassy. She watched the Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, Professor Livingston, a man with short gray hair, and square spectacles call out the first year's names.

"Abrams, Patricia!"

A short skinny girl stepped forward nervously and placed the hat on her head.

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat called. The Ravenclaw table clapped and cheered loudly.

A second later Henry Adams joined the Slytherin table. He was a tall with short black hair.

"Wait! What!" hissed Lisa. "Since when did you tell me you had a sister?" she demanded, clapping as David Boxworth now joined the Gryffindor table.

"Just now," laughed Cassy, sticking her tongue out playfully.

Cassy and Lisa watched as the other first years were housed. Cassy cheered extra hard when Mamie Morgan and Scott Norton, the two first years who had sat with her sister were housed for Gryffindor.

Finally, she heard Proffesor Livingston call her sister's name.

"Rivers, Leigha!"

Cassy saw her sister down on the stool, her face pale as ghost. She placed the hat on top of her head. After what seemed like forever, the hat finally shouted,

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Cassy jumped up from her seat and cheered wildly, embracing her sister when she got to the table. And from the corner of their eyes, when they had glanced over to the Slytherin table, they could see Christian clapping.

"Jesse!" hissed Perry. "Stop playing with the freaking dang snitch, Professor Wilkins'," the Durmstrang Headmaster, "looking at you."

"W-what?" asked Jesse, breaking free from his daydream in which he was back at the field of flowers again. He followed Perry's gaze towards Professor Wilkins, a tall man with short graying black hair, who was staring at him disapprovingly.

"Now that Mr. Riveria has decided to rejoin us, shall I continue? This year, as you all may already know, we are going to be traveling to Hogwarts to participate in the Triwizard Tournament. The Triwizard Tournament was founded about eleven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between three of Europe's largest schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beaubaxton, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took turns to host the tournament ever five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities. But the death toll was mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued. It was, as many of you probably have learned in Wizard's history class, the Tournament was reinstated four hundred years ago, but unfortunately, a Hogwarts student had perished then, in the hand of a Dark Lord named Voldemort. But do not worry, for this year the Ministry has ensured, with extra precautions, that another death will not occur, so feel free to enter if you want to. We will—" (Oh dear lord did the majority of that paragraph come out of HPGOF).

"— be bringing along the students who choose to participate," announced Madam Finn, the Beaubaxton Head Mistress, a rather tall and skinny woman with a flowery taste for clothes, "but of course we will have to eliminate some students before leaving. You all, are welcome however, to come to Final Task. The students whoa re selected to enter will come with me to Hogwarts in a month's time. There you will have classes with the Hogwarts students for the year, and will adhere to their rules and regulaation. There are, however, some changes in the rules. Students of all ages," she started, her voice so loud that it was booming, which seemed rather impossible coming from her fragile looking body, "are now permitted to enter." Caterina turned immediately to her cousin, Bella, not missing the sharp gasp or the glint in her eyes. Caterina gulped and turned her attention back to Madam Finn. "However—"

The small, dwarf-like Headmaster of Hogwarts voice spread throughout the Great Hall. He was so short, he had to stand on a tall stool to be seen by his students, and had a voice so high when he spoke, he would have made a soprano singer jealous. "— just to be clear, students below fifth year are unlikely to be chosen. And an addition to the _rules_," his voice squeaked on the last word making the crowd of students burst into a raucous laughter. One dark look from Malcolm, the gamekeeper, however, shut them up immediately. The Headmaster, Professor Dawns cleared his throat and stuck his nose up into the air as he continued, "As I was saying, there will also be an—"

"— assistant chosen from each school to assist their school's champion. For teamwork is just as important, or even more so important, than personal triumph," Professor Wilkins declared. "For all of those who are interested, you have all week to submit your names to Professor Winn. Now! Bedtime! Please file out!"

"Assistants?!" everybody exclaimed, all of them discussing heatedly with their neighbors about the new, unexpected development.

Jesse merely smiled at the news.

Six people, two legs for each team. It was interesting. It really was.

_**Wow! So finally finished writing the dang thing! Yeah! Must say that I stole so much of the Triwizard Tournament speech thingy from HPGOF. And the whole freaking Sorting Hat song from HPOTP. Thanks for reading you guys!**_


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